00:00It's a truly an honor to be here today to recognize these two extraordinary individuals
00:11that I admire professionally and personally. It's because I've seen firsthand their tireless
00:18work that really makes this world a safer, stronger, and more steadfast.
00:26I think to tell the story appropriately, if I can ask you to please come back in time with me five years,
00:31go to January 2020, because the Los Angeles City Fire Department that I worked for for 20 years
00:37was first partnered with CORE at that time. And it was really at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic
00:45when Los Angeles was facing one of the greatest public health emergencies in modern history.
00:51And it was unprecedented. And I think many people are surprised to learn that the city of Los Angeles
00:57doesn't have a Department of Public Health. The county does, but the city doesn't. So the LAFD
01:04stepped up to fill that gap. And we began screening, we began testing, we began vaccinating individuals
01:12to the best of our ability. But I'll be honest, we were outgunned. This is nothing we had ever had to
01:19deal with before. And there was so much uncertainty. There was more questions than there were answers.
01:24And you remember all the questions. It's, am I going to get sick? What about my elderly parents?
01:29What about my young kids? Are firefighters still going to go to 911 calls? Do I go to the ER?
01:36Is there going to be ventilators in there? Does a mask really work? And who can you trust?
01:44And we trusted CORE. They moved fast. They managed with strategy. They weren't just there. They knew
01:53what they were doing. And most importantly, I'll tell you firsthand, they led with heart. They really,
01:59really did. They were right there on the front lines along all of us first responders. CORE showed up.
02:06Each day. Now, if I could ask you now, fast forward five more years, same month, January 2025. We all know
02:13what happened. It was a different kind of disaster. Another unprecedented one. I'm on a federal incident
02:21management team. And you go anywhere in the nation for the worst of the worst. That was the worst I'd
02:24seen. One of the biggest natural disasters in Los Angeles history. And personally, I was deployed to the
02:32Palisades fire for 28 days straight. Needless to say, it was exhausting. Your Los Angeles firefighters
02:39could not have fought harder. I'll tell you that. And simply put that the fire wasn't going to be
02:45stopped until the wind stopped. You know, with 100 mile per hour winds, I mean, I had the helmet,
02:50I'd ratchet on. It would fly off your head if you didn't grab it. It was incredible. We saw homes
02:57that turned to ash. We saw neighborhoods that were reduced to a forest of chimneys that I personally
03:05walked with Sean and Ann. But amidst all that destruction, of course, who was there with us
03:09again, it was core. And you saw in that video, you saw Sean and Ann, they didn't just show up.
03:18They were there with us. They were side by side. And they told us of what efforts that they were
03:25doing, what proactive things they were thinking. And then they would ask, what else, what else can we
03:30do? And then they went and did it. So no matter what the emergency is, if it's a mudslide, an earthquake,
03:39a hurricane, a wildfire, there's four phases to it. And the first is prevention. Then you need
03:45response. Then you need mitigation. And then you have the long tail of recovery afterwards. And that's
03:51what makes core so different. They don't disappear when the headlines disappear. They move forward
04:01into that fourth phase, into that long tail of recovery. And they do it with compassion. They do
04:08it with speed. And they do it with staying power. They continue to be there. So whether it's COVID,
04:14whether it's going to be wildfires, it's disasters around the globe, core meets every crisis with that
04:22same fearless determination and commitment to equity. And that's one of the most impressive
04:30things that we saw too, because they really went to those underserved communities. And they made sure
04:37that they were taken care of. They quickly assessed the situation. And then they would deploy an
04:43emergency response team. And they'd start to empower those that were affected. And it wasn't just
04:50during the crisis. Again, it was during that long tail of recovery that they stuck in it.
04:57So today, we don't only just honor Sean, who I view as a friend. I've sat on his couch. I've heard
05:05from his soul what he cares about. I answer Ann's phone call on my department cell phone, because she's got
05:10ideas that will blow you away. And especially if it involves heavy equipment.
05:17I'm surprised you didn't roll up here in the Tonka truck.
05:23But, you know, the entire core team, and there's a lot of those members here.
05:29I was talking to him backstage. They're absolutely amazing. They have unwavering leadership. They're
05:34always moving forward. They're devoting their time and efforts to those communities in crisis.
05:41And today has been amazing. I can't, you know, tell you enough how impressive it is to see this
05:47audience full of people to be here and to learn. And if you are at all inspired by some of the topics
05:53that you've heard today, join in. Join us any way you can. You saw that QR code.
06:00You could go to CORE's website. Go to the fire department side. LAFD.org is a volunteer page.
06:06Come hang out. We'll put you to work. But in conclusion, I'd like to just share one last
06:13concept if it's okay. I've been privileged to have been selected on a lot of different
06:19incident management teams over the decade. And I remember we had this one very difficult
06:24deployment. It was one of those with blood, sweat, and tears. And it was a high and tight team.
06:29And that I see the incident commander turn towards us. And he goes, he said something that I found
06:35profound. It was very simple, but it resonated with me enough that I typed it up. I printed it out.
06:42And it's sitting at my desk at LAFD headquarters. And he simply said,
06:47the most important person on your team is the one that needs help.
06:52And there's a lot of truth to that. That concept is true. It's not just for the incident management
06:59team that they were there for us overseeing the disaster, but it's in general.
07:03It's something that isn't built in a single moment, right? It's built by people. It's built by people
07:14like Sean and Ann who show up again and again and try to help. And they lift other people up,
07:22and especially those that need help. I'd like to say now it is just an absolute honor
07:30to be able to present the Philanthropic Organization Award of the Year, rightly so,
07:38to Sean Penn and Ann Lee.
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